February 16, 2007 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Commander, Eighth Coast Guard District has issued a temporary deviation from the regulation governing the operations of the Rock Island Railroad and Highway Drawbridge, Mile 482.9, Rock Island, Illinois across the Upper Mississippi River. This deviation allows the bridge to remain closed-to-navigation from 7:30 a.m. until 11:30 a.m., September 23, 2007. The deviation is necessary as the drawbridge is part of the annual route for the Quad City Marathon.

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO or Office) is proposing to amend the rules of practice in title 37 of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) to conform them to certain amendments made to the Regulations under the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) that will take effect on April 1, 2007. These amendments will result in the addition of a mechanism to the PCT system whereby applicants may request that the right to claim priority be restored in applications that meet certain requirements. In addition, these amendments will provide a means for applicants to insert a missing portion of an international application without the loss of the international filing date. These amendments also will clarify the circumstances and procedures under which the correction of an obvious mistake may be made in an international application. Finally, the Office is proposing to revise the search fee for international applications. Comment Deadline Date: Written comments must be received on or before March 19, 2007. No public hearing will be held.

The Department of Agriculture (USDA) is adopting, as a final rule, without change, an interim final rule that relaxed the container marking requirements for kiwifruit covered under the California kiwifruit marketing order (order). The order regulates the handling of kiwifruit grown in California and is administered locally by the Kiwifruit Administrative Committee (Committee). Prior to implementation of the interim final rule, kiwifruit that had been inspected, met applicable grade and size requirements, and was subsequently placed into new containers, had to be positive lot identified, which required reinspection. This rule continues in effect the action that established procedures for handlers to ship such kiwifruit without positive lot identification (PLI). This rule is intended to reduce handler inspection costs and facilitate the marketing of kiwifruit.

The Federal Election Commission (``Commission'') is establishing a pilot program that will allow respondents in enforcement proceedings under the Federal Election Campaign Act, as amended (``FECA''), to have an oral hearing before the Commission. Hearings will take place prior to the Commission's consideration of the General Counsel's recommendation on whether to find probable cause to believe that a violation has occurred. The Commission will grant a request for a probable cause hearing if any two commissioners agree to hold a hearing. The program will provide respondents with the opportunity to present arguments to the Commission directly and give the Commission an opportunity to ask relevant questions. Further information about the procedures for the pilot program is provided in the supplementary information that follows.

The FAA is adopting a new airworthiness directive (AD) for all Boeing Model 767 airplanes. This AD requires an inspection of each main tank fuel boost pump for the presence of a pump shaft flame arrestor, and if the flame arrestor is missing, replacement of that pump with a pump having a pump shaft flame arrestor. This AD also requires repetitive measurements of the flame arrestor's position in the pump, and corrective actions if necessary. This AD also requires the replacement of the pump with a new or modified pump, which ends the repetitive measurements. This AD results from reports that certain fuel boost pumps may not have flame arrestors installed in the pump shaft and reports that the pin that holds the flame arrestor in place can break due to metal fatigue. We are issuing this AD to prevent the possible migration of a flame from a main tank fuel boost pump inlet to the vapor space of that fuel tank, and consequent ignition of fuel vapors, which could result in a fire or explosion.

The FAA is adopting a new airworthiness directive (AD) for the McDonnell Douglas airplanes previously described. This AD requires replacing the control modules of the fire detection systems of the propulsion engines with new, improved control modules. This AD results from a report of broken or severed wiring between engine fire detectors and the fire detection system control module, which caused the fire detection system to become non-functional without flightcrew awareness. We are issuing this AD to prevent unannunciated fire in a propulsion engine, which could cause injury to flightcrew and passengers or loss of the airplane.

The FAA is superseding an existing airworthiness directive (AD), which applies to certain Boeing Model 747-400 series airplanes. That AD currently requires replacement of the decompression panels that are located in the smoke barrier between the passenger and main deck cargo compartment with new panels of an improved design. This new AD requires modification of the decompression panels on the smoke barrier in the main deck cargo compartment, or replacement of the smoke barrier with an improved smoke barrier, as applicable. This new AD also requires repetitive inspections of the decompression (vent) panels on the smoke barrier and corrective actions if necessary. This new AD also adds airplanes to the applicability. This AD results from reports of decompression panels on the smoke barrier opening in flight and on the ground without a decompression event. We are issuing this AD to prevent inadvertent opening or tearing of decompression panels, which could result in degraded cargo fire detection and suppression capability, smoke penetration into an occupied compartment, and an uncontrolled cargo fire, if a fire occurs in the main deck cargo compartment.

The FAA adopts a new airworthiness directive (AD) for certain EADS SOCATA airplanes. This AD requires you to inspect the pilot door locking stop-fittings for correct length and, if any incorrect length pilot door locking stop-fittings are found, replace them. This AD results from mandatory continuing airworthiness information (MCAI) issued by the airworthiness authority for France. We are issuing this AD to detect and replace incorrect length pilot door locking stop- fittings. This condition, if not corrected, could result in depressurization of the airplane.

We are adopting a new airworthiness directive (AD) to revise AD 2003-17-05, which applies to Short Brothers & Harland (Shorts) Models SC-7 Series 2 and SC-7 Series 3 airplanes. AD 2003-17-05 currently establishes a technical service life for these airplanes and allows you to incorporate modifications, inspections, and replacements of certain life limited items to extend the life limits of these airplanes. Since we issued AD 2003-17-05, Shorts Service Bulletin SB 51-51 was revised to Revision 8, dated July 5, 2006, and the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), which is the Technical Agent for the Member States of the European Community, issued an AD for the European Community to correct an unsafe condition for the specified product. AD 2003-17-05 contains conflicting information on the repetitive visual inspection requirement. Consequently, this AD would retain the technical service life for these airplanes; would continue to allow modifications, inspections, and replacements of certain life limited items to extend the life limits of these airplanes; and would clarify the repetitive visual inspection requirement between one of the service bulletins and the maintenance program if an operator chooses to extend the life limit. The actions specified by this AD are intended to clarify the inspection information to prevent failure of critical structure of the aircraft caused by fatigue.

We are adopting a new airworthiness directive (AD) for the products listed above. This AD results from mandatory continuing airworthiness information (MCAI) issued by an aviation authority of another country to identify and correct an unsafe condition on an aviation product. The MCAI describes the unsafe condition as cracks found on several main landing gear cylinders. We are issuing this AD to require actions to correct the unsafe condition on these products.